SINGAPORE — Scams involving the takeover of WhatsApp accounts have made a comeback as criminals take advantage of the increase in online activities here, the police warned in a news release on Wednesday (April 8).

Victims would first receive a WhatsApp message from a friend whose own account had already been compromised. The message would request victims to forward a six-digit verification code sent to them earlier.

After giving the scammers the verification code, victims would lose access to their WhatsApp accounts.

The scammers then use the compromised WhatsApp accounts to impersonate the victims, claiming to help the victims’ friends sign up and claim prizes for fake lucky draws allegedly conducted by e-commerce retailers Lazada, Shopee or Qoo10.

The scammers would then ask the victims’ friends for their contact numbers, images of their credit or debit cards and their one-time passwords in order to make unauthorised transactions on their accounts.

Similar tactics have been used in previous scams, said police, on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

SCAM PREVENTION MEASURES

Police advised the public to be wary of unusual requests from both strangers and known contacts. People should be wary of claims that they have won a prize and check official websites to see if the lucky draw offers are legitimate. They should also verify if the request is authentic by contacting the friend on another platform to check.

The police urged the public not to transfer money, give personal information, bank account and credit card details and their one-time passwords to anyone.

WhatsApp users can protect their accounts by enabling two-step verification on the application, the police added.

Those who wish to report scams can do so using the police hotline, 1800-255-0000, or visit www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. For scam-related advice, the public can call the anti-scam helpline, 1800-722-6688, or visit www.scamalert.sg.